Gulf crisis threatens India on three fronts — oil, trade and defence

Amid deepening crisis in the Gulf region, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that India will not be affected because of the (GCC) Gulf Coordination Council conflict. “There is no challenge arising out of this for us. This is an internal matter of GCC,” she said.

“Our only concern is about Indians there. We are trying to find out if any Indians are stuck there,” she said

Over 25 percent of Qatar’s population comprises Indians. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed his state’s concerns by writing letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that almost every family in Kerala has one of their family members in the Gulf. With the travel ban, the GCC rebuttal can trouble Indians or worse, put them in danger.

With the Gulf banning air travel to Qatar, travelling for Indians has become dicey. Outbound flights from Qatar are affected by this crisis. However, inbound flights from India are not affected as of now.

Indians who want to fly to other Gulf countries from Doha for work or for other reasons will be unable to do so. Indians who want to travel to Qatar can do so. Jet Airways and Indigo confirmed their Doha flights to be as per schedule, but can get costlier.